My Hero Saint

A few days before I adopted Henry, I joined a board called GreyTalk, and sought out advice on epilepsy. A dear woman came on, by the name of Judy, and she told me about one of her Greyhounds who had epilepsy, Saint.

Saint was having 4-6 Grand-Mals a week before he joined Judy and Mike's family. They brought him home, and he was a very sad looking hound who hung his head low. Two days after they brought him home, he went into cluster and was taken to the e-vet. It was then that they started meds.

After the first several weeks of being on meds, and having some time to recover from the seizures, Saint really came out of his shell, and now stands a tall proud boy. =)

And today Saint has accomplished something huge! Today he has made it FOUR YEARS without any seizures at all!

Yay Saint!!!!!!!!!

Fennel Update

(CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE FULL SIZE)
Both Friday and Saturday, during both day and night, Henry did much better than before starting Fennel. It has made a huge difference! Click on label 'Fennel' under this post to read any other entries in this blog about Fennel.

Chiropractic

I just want to share my conclusion on Chiropractic for epilepsy now that we have been through it with Henry. I think Chiropractic should be done *immediately* at the very beginning of epilepsy, not as a last ditch resort.

What I like about Chiropractic is, it treats the *cause*, not the symptom. Phenobarbital only treats the symptom. A symptom that has the power to kill, and a symptom that in Henry's case must be controlled in order to keep him alive.

The catch about Chiropractic for epilepsy, is the epilepsy tends to get worse before it gets better. If you can make it to the point where your dog gets better, then, wow, that would be great!

So, if your dog's epilepsy is in the early stages, and is not too far out of control like Henry's, I highly reccomend you seek Chiropractic *early* on, rather than later. In Henry's case, I think the seizures would have killed Henry before his got better.

Also, you may want to discuss with your pet's Chiropractor doing only *one* adjustment per session. Particularly if your pet tends to cluster.

Did A Stupid Thing

Last night, Henry climbed up into our bed. He had not slept in our bed for a few days so I was kind of surprised. Shortly after that, he started to pant. I checked to make sure his body wasn't hot. The room was cold, and he had jammies on. He didn't feel hot. I laid there and thought about it for awhile, trying to figure out what this was about and what to do.

Henry continued to pant, and was now panting very hard. (He pants very hard before a Grand-Mal hits) I took off his jammies. It didn't help. I then considered giving an extra Phenobarbital dose, and then it dawned on me, at his 8 pm feeding, I had FORGOTTEN TO GIVE HIM HIS PHENO!!!!! =O

I *immediately* jumped out of bed, got the Pheno and gave it to Henry, (1:47am, 5 hrs, 47 min. late! *shudder*) and laid with him for awhile. Just under an hour later, he seemed comfortable again and stopped panting.

He was very needy all night long though. I took him outside three times. So, I can't really report how the Fennel worked for Henry's excessive hunger last night. I will however report if he does well again today, and how he does tonight.

WOW!!!!!!!!! =O

Paul has been taking Lucky to a Holistic Veterinarian. Paul has been doing extensive research on chinese herbs for dogs. Paul read about Fennel helping with excessive hunger. So Paul cleared it with his Holistic Veterinarian, and tried it, and he was amazed how well it worked. He used to have to feed Lucky at 3 am, and now no longer has to!

So today, I gave Henry his first Fennel Capsule around noon today. (I called my vet first to be safe)

Henry's meal time was due in 6 minutes, and he was....

Incredible!

Me & Dr.Buck

I want to introdoose yu all to my Veterbanareeyun. Mommy took dis pikshur of us togeder today. Ain't she pretty? =)



I weelly lubs my Veterbanareeyun. She opened her office on a Sunday morning JUST fer me when I was vewy sick two weeks ago. Dat was VEWY nice ob her!

She habs two Greyhounds ob her own so dat meen she weelly know how to take care ob me!!!!!

Dr.Buck, if you r readin dis, I want to say FANK YOU fer taking such good care ob me! Also, Mommy seys you can tak dis pikshur rite off dis blog if you would liks to keep a pikshur ob us togeder. (click on pic. for full size)
OK, now my Mommy wood lik to say a few fings....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When we first adopted Henry, we were not happy with our old Veterinarian. (this is a different Vet than the one in above picture) He claimed to be knowledgeable about Greyhounds because his parents had a Grey many, many years ago, yet he misdiagnosed Henry as hypothyroid. (a common misdiagnosis in Greys)

Also, the office of our old Veterinarian had multiple Veterinarians, and every time I went in, I had no idea which Veterinarian I would get that day. Even when I specifically requested a certain Veterinarian, I would never get the one I requested. In general I was just not happy with our old Veterinarian.

So we called around to many, many different Veterinarians, but could not decide. One day when Henry was very sick with diarrhea, last spring, we had no choice but to hurry up and choose a new Veterinarian right then. So, we went to Dr.Buck's, and it was like winning the lottery that the right vet happened to be open and that we picked this one! She is the one who taught us about raw fish and thiaminase. She told us so many things other vets had never told us.

She has two Greyhounds of her own. When you have a Greyhound, it is crucial that you choose a vet who is TRULY knowledgeable about the breed.

She has been willing to work with us every step of the way, and I love that she gives us a way to get in touch with her after hours, especially considering Henry has epilepsy and you never know when he will have an emergency. It's a comfort to know that if Henry ever has a life threatening emergency, that it is VERY likely, Dr.Buck that will be the one to care for him, regardless of what time of the week or day it is.

If she is not busy at the office, she answers the phone herself. I really like that!

It is so important when you have a dog that has a lifelong condition such as epilepsy, that you be truly happy with your Veterinarian. It is such a comfort that we have Dr. Buck as our Veterinarian!

A Thought I'd Like To Share

This thought is a carryover from the entry I wrote earlier today. We tend to always blame EVERYTHING on the seizure meds. It's not always the seizure meds. Grand-Mals, in enough frequency and severity will alter your dog's behavior. Henry went from needing to sleep between me and my husband each night and needing to be sung to everytime he woke up, to being able to sleep on his own bed with no reassurance from us. His fear of sleeping alone started before putting him on meds, while he was in the 3 day Cluster, and it ended three days after increasing his Phenobarbital.

He is recovering in alot of ways from his Cluster. Less spooky, less confused, more frisky. Vision perception is much better, paws are landing on the floor properly, etc. He is doing just fine with our daily 3 mile walks. It was several days after The Big Cluster before we could go back to the 3 mile walks.

Anyways, I included a video just to show a little of his spunkiness and alertness. In this video we were getting ready to go for our walk. He's hard to get a video of cause he often plasters himself very close to my side. In the beginning of the video, you see him stuck my side, that's how he walks on the leash too. He's an absolute JOY to walk on the leash. That's actually fairly common among greyhounds. he also has this adorable bouncy step when he feels good, this is also common among greyhounds. =) The bark however is louder than that of most greys, due to the coonhound he has in him.

Riley, my non-epi, sure is cute when he's excited isn't he? =P

We Have Our Bed Back

(Henry sleeping by my husband's feet. This picture was taken several nights ago)

Last night, for the very first time since the Big Cluster, Henry slept in his own bed. In the begginning, Henry was to disoriented and scared and would cry if I did not lift him up into our bed to sleep between me and my husband. He then graduated to sleeping at my husband's feet instead, and now, is back to sleeping in his own bed!

In the first few days after the Big Cluster, Henry was afraid of bedtime coming on. he would start to cry and roo as soon as we went into the bedroom. Nighttime is a scary time for dogs who have any confusion/neurological/cognitive impairments.

Our bed is only a full size so it was a mite crowded with an 80# dog plus two adults. I was afraid I had permanently taught him the habit of sleeping in our bed, but turns out he only slept there as long as he truly needed to, and when well enough, on his own decided to go back to his own bed. Another sign he is recovering more and more from the Big Cluster! =)